Zayna Haider received the Steve Pool Memorial Scholarship in Atmospheric and Climate Science
“The Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science is proud to announce the inaugural recipient of the Steve Pool Memorial Scholarship in Atmospheric and Climate Science, established to honor the life and legacy of beloved UW alumnus and one of our region’s most trusted weather forecasters, Steve Pool.
Steve inspired countless viewers with his warmth, clarity, and commitment to sharing meteorological insights and weather education with millions of viewers across Western Washington. His legacy continues to shape our field and the next generation of scientists who follow in his footsteps. This scholarship uplifts undergraduate students in the Department and stands as a testament to Steve’s passion for making atmospheric science accessible, engaging, and meaningful to the public.
This year, the scholarship has been awarded to Zayna Haider, an outstanding undergraduate whose academic excellence, curiosity, and dedication to public engagement reflect the spirit of Steve’s work. Zayna is interested in atmospheric chemistry and will be spending this next summer in a NASA internship program. We look forward to her journey in the years to come!
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Pool family for their partnership and to the many alumni and friends who stepped up to establish this scholarship. By directly supporting students pursuing careers in atmospheric and climate science, we aim to honor Steve’s memory and ensure his influence will continue to inspire future scientists for years to come.
Please join us in celebrating Zayna and remembering the remarkable legacy of Steve Pool!”
– Professor and Interim Chair, Becky Alexander
Read more about this on CoEnv News and KOMO News, and learn about the Steve Pool Memorial Fund.
Prof. Shuyi Chen interviewed by The Seattle Times
Professor Shuyi Chen, chair of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), was interviewed by The Seattle Times about the federal government’s plan to dismantle UCAR’s research center. The center, known as the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), has been criticized by federal officials, and they proposed to cut back its operations, including removing key resources like research aircraft and supercomputers. Scientists argued that the center has been essential for forecasting hurricanes, floods, atmospheric rivers, and other extreme weather events. Prof. Chen also mentioned that her projects would not be possible to continue without the resources from NCAR. UCAR is currently filing a lawsuit, claiming the shutdown of NCAR is “a direct threat to America’s national security, public safety, and economic prosperity.” While Prof. Chen declined to comment on the lawsuit, she shared that “there’s always an eye inside the hurricane.”
Read the full article from The Seattle Times.
Prof. Dale Durran named 2026 NVIDIA Research Faculty Fellow
Professor Dale Durran is named the 2026 NVIDIA Research Faculty Fellow for his contributions to research collaboration on AI for Earth system prediction! Prof. Durran has a 25% appointment at NVIDIA as a principal research scientist, with “a research focus on deep learning earth-system modeling for sub-seasonal and seasonal forecasting, forecast ensembles, and generative methods for fine-scale modeling of convective precipitation and other mesoscale fields.”
The above image is Prof. Durran at NVIDIA’s 2026 GTC (GPU Technology Conference) in San Jose, CA.
Read more about this recognition on the UW College of the Environment news.
NASA selected STRIVE, led by Prof. Lyatt Jaeglé, for next-generation satellite mission
“NASA announced on Thursday last week that both the University of Washington STRIVE team and the UW-affiliated EDGE team were selected to lead satellite missions to better understand Earth and improve capabilities to foresee environmental events and mitigate disasters.” The STRIVE (Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer) mission is led by Professor Lyatt Jaeglé from the Department, and the EDGE (Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer) mission is led by Helen Amanda Fricker at the University of California, San Diego.
Congratulations to both teams!
Read more about the missions on UW News, NASA press release, and Science Magazine.
Alum Ángel F. Adames Corraliza named 2025 MacArthur Fellow
Atmospheric and Climate Science alum and University of Wisconsin–Madison Associate Professor Ángel F. Adames Corraliza has been awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “genius grant. Adames Corraliza got his Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from UW in 2016 and completed a master’s before that.
According to the MacArthur Foundation, Adames Corraliza “has made significant advances in quantifying the role and impact of moisture in tropical weather and climate phenomena, bringing us closer to a comprehensive dynamical theory of the tropical atmosphere.”
Read more about Adames Corraliza’s research on NPR, CoENV News, UW Madison News, and the MacArthur Foundation.
Postdoc Chris Kenseth and Prof. Dale Durran Received AGU Awards
Christopher Kenseth, a NSF AGS Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science, was selected as the recipient of the 2025 James R. Holton Award by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The award “recognizes outstanding scientific research and accomplishments from honorees within three years of receiving their PhD” and “serves to acknowledge exceptional contributions at an early stage of the awardee’s career.” Chris is currently working with Prof. Joel Thornton and will join the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at the University of Maryland as an Assistant Professor in January 2026.
Atmospheric and Climate Science has had several other winners of the Holton Award: Former Professor Daehyun Kim received the award in 2012; PhD alumni Elizabeth Barnes, Angel Adames-Corraliza, Marysa Lague, and Lucas Vargas Zeppetello received the award in 2014, 2018, 2021, and 2023, respectively; and Assistant Professor Alex Turner received the award in 2020.
Prof. Dale Durran is the recipient of this year’s Jule Gregory Charney Lecture, which is “presented annually to a prominent scientist who has made exceptional contributions to the understanding of weather and climate.” “The Charney Lecture is also a part of the Bowie Lecture Series, established in 1989 to commemorate the 50th presentation of the William Bowie medal, AGU’s highest honor. The Bowie medal is named in honor of AGU’s first president.”
Edit (Dec 19, 2025): The awardees are featured on UW News.
Congratulations to all the 2025 AGU Honorees!
Durran Group featured on EOS Spotlight and UW News
Durran group was featured in the recent EOS Research Spotlight, showcasing their creation of DLESyM (Deep Learning Earth System Model), an AI-powered climate model capable of generating a 1000-year climate simulation in just 12 hours on a single processor—far faster than traditional Earth-system models. In addition, DLESyM exceeds the performance of CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6) models in reproducing key patterns and measures of variability in the current climate, including tropical cyclone generation and the Indian summer monsoons.
Read more about the research on EOS, UW News, and AGU Advances.
Prof. Becky Alexander named Interim/Acting Chair
As Dr. Joel Thornton takes on the role of interim dean for the College of the Environment, Dr. Becky Alexander will serve as the Department’s interim/acting chair. Welcome aboard, Dr. Alexander!
Dawgcast featured on The Daily UW
Dawgcast members were interviewed and featured in a recent article by The Daily UW. Members shared their experiences and behind the scenes of this unique course, read more about it here.
Grad Student Ursula Jongebloed’s paper ranked Top 10% of the GRL’s most-viewed papers in 2023
Graduate student Ursula Jongebloed’s paper, published in Geophysical Research Letters, is ranked within the top 10% of the journal’s most-viewed papers in 2023!
Read the paper here: Underestimated Passive Volcanic Sulfur Degassing Implies Overestimated Anthropogenic Aerosol Forcing
Co-Authors: Andy Schauer, Jihong Cole-Dai, Carleigh Larrick, Robert Wood, Tobias Fischer, Simon Carn, Sara Salimi, Shana Edouard, Shuting Zhai, Lei Geng, Becky Alexander